£45million for Andy Sinton? How much these Sheffield Wednesday signings would cost in today’s money

He was a then-club record purchase when Sheffield Wednesday splashed the cash in 1993… but Andy Sinton would cost a remarkable £45MILLION in today’s money.

That’s according to research from TotallyMoney, which took the average transfer values of players since the English Premier League began in 1992, and compared the increase in transfer costs over time.

From this, they calculated a “football player inflation” to work out how much our favourite footballers would cost if they were bought today.

And the results, from Wednesday’s point of view, are remarkable. Des Walker’s £2m fee from Sampdoria equates to £40m today, while Darko Kovacevic would cost almost £33m today.

Chris Waddle’s £1m move from Marseille was converted to almost £22.5m according to the research, with players like Andy Booth and Ian Nolan’s fees also working out at well above the £20m mark.

It’s thought that more family-friendly stadiums, increased TV, broadcasting, and advertising potential, as well as better merchandise, are the main reasons for the rise in player costs.

Football clubs now are earning more than ever as a result, which means they have more money to spend, and often enter into a bidding war with other clubs to secure the best players.

For context, if day-to-day items increased in line with Premier League inflation, a pint of milk today would cost £7.62, a loaf of bread £12.32, and a litre of fuel £11.20.

TotallyMoney’s Henry Keegan said: “Many think footballers have always been paid a lot. But, compared with how much they cost now, they were an absolute steal when the Premier League began.

“What our research shows is that with the globalisation of football and its ever-increasing worldwide popularity and TV deals, the biggest football clubs can afford to compete for the very best players — and that football inflation far outweighs day-to-day inflation.”

At the top end of the Premier League, top of the list is striker turned politician Andriy Shevchenko, who cost just over £29 million when he transferred to Chelsea in 2006. Today, it’s estimated he would cost over £144 million.

Rio Ferdinand takes second place, whose value was just shy of £29 million when he transferred to Manchester United in 2002. The defender today would be worth just over £125 million.

Former Newcastle and England captain Alan Shearer takes third place. When he transferred to Newcastle in 1996, the club paid close to £13 million — a world record at the time. Today, the striker would cost just over £121 million.